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Red Wings Assign William Lagesson And William Wallinder To AHL

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As we’ve seen several teams do already, the Red Wings have sent a pair of players down now that we’re at the holiday break.  Late last night, the team announced (Twitter link) that they re-assigned defensemen William Lagesson and William Wallinder to AHL Grand Rapids.

Lagesson has been shuffled back and forth in recent days but did get into two games with Detroit this week.  He was held off the scoresheet while averaging just shy of 16 minutes a night.  In his first season with the Red Wings, he has spent most of the year with the Griffins, picking up eight points in 20 games.  With Simon Edvinsson recently landing on IR, there’s a good chance that Lagesson will be recalled after the break but for a few days at least, they’ll pause his waiver exemption clock.

As for Wallinder, he was the corresponding recall on Monday when Edvinsson was moved to injured reserve but he didn’t suit up against St. Louis.  The 22-year-old is in the second year of his entry-level deal and is off to a solid start with the Griffins this season.  Wallinder has eight points in 19 games in 2024-25 after putting up 19 in 65 contests in his rookie year last season.  Waivers aren’t a consideration for him but the move will allow Detroit to bank a bit more cap space for a few days before deciding about bringing him back up or not.

With these assignments, the Red Wings now have two open spots on their active roster.

Vancouver Canucks Assign Three Players To AHL

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Like every team in the National Hockey League, the Vancouver Canucks have played their final game before the short holiday break. Per the AHL transactions page, the Canucks have papered down forwards Phillip Di Giuseppe, Max Sasson, and Linus Karlsson bringing their roster down a minimum of 18 skaters and two goalies.

The roster moves will give Vancouver a relatively large window of salary cap relief despite all three players earning below $900K on their current contracts. The Canucks don’t play until Saturday when they take on the Seattle Kraken meaning all three players will likely be recalled then.

The veteran Di Giuseppe played in three games for Vancouver during his recent call-up from December 17th to today, tallying two assists and 12 hits while averaging 12:39 of ice time. He’ll likely spend more time on the Canucks roster for the rest of the season after returning from an injury earlier in the year. Di Giuseppe is in the final season of a two-year, $1.55MM agreement signed with Vancouver and can bring quality defensive play toward the bottom of the lineup.

Sasson, the second forward included in today’s transaction, is starting to rack up playing time in the NHL. The former Western Michigan University standout has scored one goal and five points in 12 games for the Canucks this season and has seen his ice time climb to or near 13 minutes in three of his last four games. There’s a legitimate chance his playing days in the AHL are over for the foreseeable future unless Vancouver makes a notable outside addition to their bottom six.

Karlsson also sustained an early-season injury keeping him out of the lineup for both Vancouver and the Abbotsford Canucks for much of the 2024-25 regular season. He’s gotten off to a hot start in Abbotsford scoring five goals and six points in seven games but he failed to find the scoresheet during his pair of contests in the NHL. He’s an interesting offensive weapon Vancouver could toy with toward the bottom of their forward grouping given that Karlsson is only a year removed from scoring 23 goals and 60 points in 60 AHL games.

Kings Reassign Andre Lee

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Dec. 24: Lee has been returned to Ontario, per a club announcement. He won’t count against the cap during their holiday break. His appearance on Sunday against the Capitals was his first during this recall, recording a shot on goal in 9:13 of ice time.

Dec. 13: The Kings made a roster move on Friday to add a bit more depth up front.  The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled winger Andre Lee from AHL Ontario on an emergency basis.  Mayor’s Manor reports that winger Trevor Moore’s availability for tomorrow’s game against the Rangers is in question, necessitating this move.

The 24-year-old has gotten into 16 games so far this season with Los Angeles in his first taste of NHL action.  That said, his playing time has largely been limited as he’s logging just 9:26 per game.  Offensively, Lee has been limited to recording two assists although he’s also averaging just over two hits per contest.

After spending more than a month on an NHL roster to start the season, Lee was sent down in mid-November but he has been recalled multiple times since then.  As a result, he has only played in four games with the Reign, picking up a goal and an assist after picking up 13 points in 36 games with them last season.

With the recall, the Kings are now at the maximum of 23 players on their active roster.

NL’s SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers Sign Julius Honka

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Former top Stars prospect Julius Honka is staying in Switzerland, with the National League’s SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers announcing they’ve secured a two-year commitment from the defender beginning next season.

Honka hasn’t played in North America since 2021, and after spending two seasons with Luleå HF of the Swedish Hockey League, he arrived in Switzerland in 2023. The Lakers will mark Honka’s fourth NL team in three seasons after splitting the 2023-24 campaign between SC Bern and Genève-Servette HC and signing for 2024-25 with HC Davos. They didn’t say whether Honka’s deal has an NHL out-clause, but regardless, it’s a sign that he won’t be pursuing NHL opportunities next summer after a resurgence in his game.

Honka, who Dallas drafted 14th overall a decade ago, has 20 points and a +3 rating in 33 games with Davos, putting him fifth among NL defenders. It’s not unexpected production, either. Since being cut loose by the Stars in 2021, Honka has been a top two-way threat in the European circuit. He led the SHL in goals from a defenseman with 10 in 46 games with Luleå in 2021-22, and he led the Champions Hockey League with a +14 rating with the Swedish club the following year.

The Finnish native’s brief NHL career only spanned three seasons, accumulating 87 appearances with the Stars from 2016-17 to 2018-19. He averaged a minimal 13:57 per game and recorded two goals and 11 assists for 13 points with a -7 rating. While he was frequently criticized for a lack of physicality and defensive awareness individually, the Stars always controlled possession better at even strength with Honka on the ice than without him. He also recorded 113 points in 218 AHL games during his time in the Stars organization with a -24 rating.

This year’s Rapperswil-Jona roster is home to former NHLers Pontus Åberg, Tanner Fritz, Philip Holm, Nicklas Jensen, Jacob Larsson, and Victor Rask.

Capitals Reassign Henrik Rybinski

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Dec. 24: The Caps announced this morning that they’ve returned Rybinski to the AHL over the holiday break.

Dec. 21: Veteran center Lars Eller has officially been placed on injured reserve by the Washington Capitals as expected. The Capitals will use forward Henrik Rybinski in Eller’s stead with the organization announcing his recall from their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears.

It’s his first NHL recall during his short professional career. The Florida Panthers drafted Rybinski with the 136th overall pick of the 2019 NHL Draft but he signed with Washington after his draft rights expired in 2022.

Rybinski has had a slow start to his professional career offensively scoring 10 goals and 34 points in 103 games for the Bears from 2022 to 2024. The current season can already be classified as a breakout year for Rybinski as he’s scored six goals and 20 points in 28 games. He’s unlikely to break any scoring records but his production is still good for third in scoring on a second-place Hershey team.

The uptick in point production likely led to Rybinski’s recall by the Capitals. Still, he’s unlikely to debut in the NHL given Washington’s upcoming schedule. The organization matches up against the Los Angeles Kings, Boston Bruins, and Toronto Maple Leafs over their next three games.

Should the Capitals still need Rybinski on the roster by next Sunday, it would make sense for him to debut against a fledgling Detroit Red Wings. Still, the recall is an acknowledgment by the Capitals of Rybinski’s development this season.

Largest Contract In Franchise History For Each NHL Team

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Here’s our list of the largest contracts each of the 32 NHL teams has ever signed. Each contract is linked to its PHR post, except for those that predate the site’s existence. The amounts denote the total value owed to the player, including deferred money.

Conor Geekie Day-To-Day With Upper-Body Injury

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have announced that forward Conor Geekie is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury. The 20-year-old went hard into the boards in the second period of last night’s game against the Florida Panthers and left for a brief period. He was able to return to action later on and finished out the game but did not dress for tonight’s second half of a back-to-back against the Panthers. The Lightning don’t play again until Saturday against the New York Rangers, so it is possible that Geekie doesn’t miss any game action, although the details of his injury are unknown.

The 11th overall pick in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft was a central part of a trade this summer that saw him dealt to the Lightning from the Utah Hockey Club, along with two draft picks and J.J. Moser in exchange for defenseman Mikhail Sergachev.

The trade has afforded Geekie an opportunity in Tampa Bay to play a depth role, something he has responded well to. In 31 games this year, the Strathclair, Manitoba native has posted five goals and five assists as well as 51 hits while averaging 12:30 of ice time per game.

Geekie remains a bit of a project for the Lightning, but he is certainly one of their best young players. The 6’4” forward has made good use of his size this season but still has a long way to go to improve his skating and his balance if he hopes to become a stand-out power forward at the NHL level.

Predators Place Cole Smith On IR

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The Nashville Predators have placed forward Cole Smith on injured reserve with a lower-body injury. The 29-year-old is expected to miss the next 4-6 weeks. Although no specifics about his injury were given, it is likely related to the hard shot he took off the ankle in Saturday night’s contest against the Los Angeles Kings.

Smith is in his third full NHL season with Nashville after a four-year NCAA career and a couple of seasons in the AHL. The native of Brainerd, Minnesota has never been a prolific scorer but has been difficult to play against in his brief NHL career, playing the role of a disruptive forechecker as well as displaying a keen ability to get to the front of the net. He has also been a good penalty killer, utilizing his 6’3” frame to force turnovers.

Smith had a career year last season, tallying nine goals and 14 assists in 80 games, but has seen his offensive output dry up this year with just two goals and three assists in 34 games. Although that is a dramatic drop-off in production, it is likely due to his deployment which has seen him start just 20.7% of his even-strength shifts in the offensive zone compared to 35.1% last season.

Deployment aside, Smith has also seen his PDO (shooting percentage + save percentage) drop a full five points and his CF% has also dipped from 48% down to 45.8%.

Jets Reassign Simon Lundmark

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5:02 p.m.: After Winnipeg completed a 5-2 win over Toronto, Lundmark is back to the minors and off the active roster for the holiday break. Expect him to be recalled later this week if Stanley and Fleury aren’t ready to go for their next contest.

3:27 p.m.: The Jets announced that they’ve recalled right-shot defenseman Simon Lundmark from AHL Manitoba prior to today’s game against the Maple Leafs. It’s the first recall of his NHL career aside from a one-day emergency stint on the roster in January 2022. Winnipeg had an open active roster spot, so no corresponding transaction is necessary.

Lundmark was scratched from today’s contest, but his services may be needed when Winnipeg resumes its post-break schedule against the Senators on Saturday. Logan Stanley has missed the last two contests with a lower-body injury, while Haydn Fleury left today’s game with a non-contact right knee injury. The 24-year-old, who the Jets selected in the second round in 2019, hit restricted free agency last summer but eventually agreed to a one-year, two-way pact to stay in Winnipeg and cleared waivers during training camp. He’s made 22 appearances with Manitoba this season, posting six points in 22 games. He has a -7 rating that’s middle of the pack on a Manitoba team that’s struggled to the tune of a 7-17-1 record.

While Lundmark has been a regular contributor on Manitoba’s blue line since coming to North America from his native Sweden in 2021, he’s never done enough to put himself in serious consideration for a roster spot. His offensive production has been consistent, stagnating at around 0.25 points per game, and he has a cumulative -24 rating across 210 AHL appearances.

Lundmark can remain on the Jets’ roster for up to 30 days or play 10 games until he requires waivers to return to the minors. He carries a $775K cap hit, leaving the Jets with $4.22MM in current cap space with a full roster.

Hurricanes Reassign Riley Stillman

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The Hurricanes announced today that they’ve returned defenseman Riley Stillman to AHL Chicago ahead of tonight’s game against the Predators, their final contest before the holiday break. They now have an open spot on the active roster, which will likely be filled by a recall on the blue line come Friday, whether that’s Stillman or someone else.

Stillman, 26, was signed to a one-year, two-way contract after reaching unrestricted free agency last summer. The Hurricanes picked him up after he spent the entire 2023-24 campaign in the AHL with the Sabres’ affiliate in Rochester, marking his first season without any NHL action since 2017-18.

After missing the first 12 games of the season following offseason lower-body surgery, Stillman cleared waivers in mid-November and has spent the time since heading up and down between the Hurricanes and the Wolves. He’s yet to actually enter a game for Carolina this season, but he has been rostered for seven contests as a healthy scratch and last-minute injury insurance. The endless juggling between leagues also means that Stillman has only played seven AHL games since getting his season underway last month, posting two assists, 11 PIMs, and a +1 rating.

It’s easy to see why Stillman hasn’t gotten an NHL crack on Carolina’s very deep and very healthy blue line. Their top six defenders – Brent Burns, Jalen Chatfield, Shayne Gostisbehere, Dmitry Orlov, Jaccob Slavin, and Sean Walker – have all played all 33 games for the Canes this year, providing no opportunity for Stillman (or other frequent press-box option Ty Smith) to see NHL ice. With 26 points, a -19 rating, and underwhelming possession metrics in 158 career NHL games, Stillman wouldn’t sit higher than No. 7 on pretty much any other team’s defensive depth chart anyways.

Assigning Stillman to the minors will delay his temporary waiver exemption. Between his roster moves, Stillman’s still appeared on Carolina’s roster for less than 30 days since clearing waivers last month, so he won’t be exposed to the waiver wire again today.

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